Thankful Thursday | officially a staff nurse
This week, I am thankful:
that my badge says "staff nurse" now
If you haven't passed your NCLEX before you start your nursing job, your badge is printed with "nursing graduate", not "staff nurse".
And even though I'd passed my NCLEX before I started, my badge showed up with "nursing graduate" on it.
I'd tried to get it fixed several times before, but somehow it never got reprinted.
But now I have a badge in hand that says Staff Nurse. Yay!!
I dislike having "nursing graduate" on the badge because I feel like it announces that I'm a new grad. And yes, it's true that I am, but I prefer not to lead with that when I'm taking care of patients. 😉
for more and more spring buds
I'm seeing new signs of spring whenever I go for walks now. I love watching how seasons change on my walks!
that I was able to get my grade fixed
My professor marked me down on a discussion board assignment because she said I hadn't included enough references.
I was like, "Nuts! How did I miss that?" so I scrolled back and discovered that I actually had included the correct number.
I messaged her, and she restored my points. 🙂 Apparently, she just hadn't scrolled down far enough on the page to see them all.
that we did not get hit by a bad storm
Earlier this week, we heard that a bad storm was coming our way, with an unusually high threat of tornadoes.
But thankfully, it ended up being a whimper of a storm, and we were all fine. Whew!
that I don't have to keep up this pace forever
Between full-time nursing, BSN classes, blogging, and just regular life management (laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, etc.), I feel like I am almost always working in some or another.
While I like the work I do, my current work-life balance is...not quite ideal. Ha.
But, this is temporary. And it really helps to remember that!
for the privilege of doing all of the things I do
Yes, I'm a little tired, but I was thinking last week what a blessing it is to be where I am in life, especially because at one point, I wasn't sure I was even going to get to have a nursing degree!
It is a privilege to be tired from working in a field I feel called to.
It's a privilege to have sore muscles from working out at the gym; not everyone is healthy enough to do that.
It is a privilege to be busy getting a degree, one that I am not even paying for!
What I am feeling is generally a good kind of busy and tired, and that's something to be grateful for.
This week I am thankful:
* that spring break is next week. The first couple of weeks of March were a bit too full, so I'm looking forward to regrouping next week before heading into April and Maycember.
* for the fun that today will bring. Today is my 40th birthday! My feelings are a little mixed about it (I really loved a lot of my 30's and 40 feels a little weird at the moment), but I know that my family and co-workers are going to help today be really fun.
* that my Wednesday morning volunteer gig was so full of kids yesterday. Our numbers had been low and kind of discouraging for a few weeks, but we were almost full yesterday! I love being around those kids and my heart was full to see so many of them there.
* for the kind words of a couple of friends as I headed into today. Words of affirmation is probably one of my stronger love languages because I just treasure those cards and text messages of kindness.
* that my middle schooler wants me to chaperone her upcoming field trip to Cedar Point - and that I actually enjoy roller coasters, so I want to go! Middle school is hard and I'm thankful that she isn't pushing me away in the midst of it, but that we can talk and she's willing to have me be with her and a group of peers on a fun day.
Congrats again on becoming an official nurse!
Thankfuls:
1. I got sick this week. I'm not thankful for that but I'm thankful I could take a couple of days off work.
2. I'm thankful I slept so well last night which will help my body recover.
3. Kind compliments. Someone I work with said I'm 'calm, composed and always so kind' and someone else said I'm super creative and he really admires how much I put myself out there!
4. That we have such a wealth of media at our fingertips. I rewatched White Oleander which I hadn't seen in over fifteen years the other night. I first saw it as a teenager, as it was one of the limited options in our video rental shop (which, in another sense, makes me thankful that I didn't have endless options to choose from), and it left such an impression on me. It made (and makes) me thankful for a stable home environment and I am thankful that I saw it at a young age; it's a dark film but it makes you think about the nature of love and loyalty. I'm going to reread the book soon.
5. I'm thankful for the colourful bursts of flowers appearing everywhere!